Overview:
There are two ways to achieve certainty in identifying biological indicators: Firstly, by working as a specialist for several years, enhancing knowledge of morphological characteristics and distinguishing features of all species and secondly, by establishing a complete reference collection, which can be used to compare specimens and preparations in order to resolve taxonomic problems or to enhance one's knowledge.
One precondition is awareness of the morphology of all species, especially the rare ones, which is necessary to exclude errors and uncertainties in the taxonomic work. It requires an intensive examination of the whole organism group and the establishing of a reference collection (that often lacks many rare species, in spite of extensive sampling).
This challenging problem is solved by the eutaxa products. Eutaxa has developed a special taxonomic software program, allowing the user to choose from different modes of identifying organisms up to species level and to view and to compare images from an extended picture database, comprising of thousands of micro-photographic images that make up the complete Electronic Reference Collection of a group. Both the identification keys and reference collection are linked so that the user always has access to the image collection of every species in order to verify the results of the determination work.
Moreover, the software provides a detailed description of the morphology of organism groups, as well as ecological, systematic and distribution data of all species covered by the key. The key software is available on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM and may be installed on any machines with Windows operating systems. The software can be updated via Internet for free, so that the user always has the latest knowledge without additional capital expenditure.
Advantages of an Electronic Reference Collection
1. Every species is precisely documented by a series of images. The user can study the differences between species by comparing the distinguishing features.
2. The collection includes even rare species, which are exclusively known to a few experts.
3. The program allows the user to combine and compare images of species and details in any number or size – a method that cannot be applied when studying preparations under the microscope.
4. The collection is always available, requires no maintenance or preparations that dry up; it is space-saving and can be transported to any location on a CD or notebook.
5. The collection can be refreshed or upgraded by downloading free updates from the Internet.
6. The reference collection is linked with the identification keys and can therefore be used to verify the results of the determination work.
System requirements:
The software is compatible with Windows operating systems XP, Vista, Windows 7 and 8, 32- or 64-bit. Please mind, that the programs cannot be installed on Windows 10, because the older version of the Microsoft SQL-Server is not accepted by the new Microsoft operating system! A newer version of the Eutaxa software will be available in a few years. In the meantime, users of Windows 10 may run the program on a virtual machine with XP, Vista, Windows 7 or 8.
Copy protection key:
The Eutaxa software is protected by a copy protection key in the form of a USB dongle (the Wibu key). Whenever using the product, this dongle has to be connected to a USB port on the PC, otherwise the program does not work.
- If you are a first-time buyer of an Eutaxa product and are only purchasing one disc, please make sure to buy the CD-ROM / DVD-ROM *with* included Wibu key.
- If you are a first-time buyer of an Eutaxa product are purchasing several discs, you only have to buy one CD-ROM / DVD-ROM *with* included Wibu key, you can buy the other products *without* the key. The Wibu Key unlocks all eutaxa products that have been installed on a machine, so only a single protection key is needed on one PC, irrespective of the number of installed eutaxa products.
- If you bought Eutaxa products before and already have a Wibu key, you can buy CD-ROMs / DVD-ROMS *without* the key. You may need to upgrade the key, see below.
Please note that the operation of different products on more than one PC at the same time requires an appropriate number of Wibu Keys.
Upgrading your copy protection key:
When installing a new Eutaxa product on the PC, the Wibu Key can easily be unlocked by upgrading the Wibu Key. To unlock the Wibu key, change to the desktop view, click the right mouse button, click the commands "New" and "Wibu Control File", select the command "WIBU-BOX Remote Programming Context File", click on "Create" and confirm with "OK". Accordingly, a Wibu Key-file "MyWibuBox.wbc" is created on the desktop and has to be sent to Eutaxa, by emailing lechthaler@eutaxa.com.
The upgraded file will be returned via email. Double-click on the attached file, confirm all dialogues and the Wibu Key will be upgraded automatically.
Included applications:
Each CD-ROM / DVD-ROM includes the following sub-applications:
D-Key: The sub-application contains a Dichotomic Key for identifying organisms up to genus or species level. All features are documented by microphotographic images that can be compared and distinguished.
Query Key: The Query Key offers a multi-criteria approach to identifying species or aggregating taxa closely resembling one another in their morphological or ecological features. The results can be transferred to the Gallery to arrange and to compare images of the grouped species, according to the last Q-Key calculation.
Gallery: The Gallery contains the digital Reference Collection, comprising thousands of high-quality microphotographic images. Each species is well documented with a series of images that can be arranged and compared in any number, order or size.
Morphology: In the Morphology sub-application, information on the morphological characteristics of the respective group is displayed. All structures relevant to identification are recorded in a number of illustrations and labelled in detail.
Ecology: The Ecology sub-application offers information about habitat conditions, synonyms or geographical distribution.
Info: This feature provides information on the project and the current product, a description of the organism group, addresses of the eutaxa email and website and a preview of other products.
For further installation and troubleshooting instructions, see the Eutaxa website.